Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/102

 cave, carrying their offerings; bread and liquor for their own use; a very inferior violin and a large tunkel. This is a quaint old musical instrument; a piece of wood about three feet long and one foot in diameter, hollowed out; on one side it has a long narrow mouth; on the other, two oblong tongues that almost meet in the middle. Its mouth is placed on the ground, and the tongues, like two keys, are struck with short sticks, whose ends are covered with india-rubber to make them rebound. The sound produced is like a great rumbling in the earth, and can, when the wind is favorable, be heard five or six miles off. The word tunkel means to be worshiping, and the natives use the instrument in all their ancient ceremonies.

Having arrived at the cave of Zactalah, the women begin their devotions by removing their garments that have gathered dust on the road, replacing them by clean ones. Then kneeling before the image, beads in hand, they chant the prayers and litanies of the Romish church, the violin and tunkel accompanying their voices. What a combination of pagan and Christian worship!

The prayers are alternated with dancing, by the women only; every now and then all take a little